I’ve been messing around with a mod for a few weeks now. I just wondered if there was any interest in it. I just have a few things to work out here and there, but here’s what I’ve done so far:
1. Changed the “worded” rank structure to better represent what was used in WW2. The CWO gets cut off a little with the abbreviation after it, so for my own setup I just have the words without the abbreviations. I may just leave the wording and forget about the abbreviations in the release. Ranks are now:
Apprentice Seaman (AS)
Seaman 2nd Class (S2C)
Seaman 1st Class (S1C)
Petty Officer 3rd Class (PO3)
Petty Officer 2nd Class (PO2)
Petty Officer 1st Class (PO1)
Chief Petty Officer (CPO)
Warrant Officer (WO)
Commissioned Warrant Officer (CWO)
2. Changed the rank symbols in the Crew Management image to use the ones that were used back in WW2. CPO’s now have red on blue since wartime material restrictions meant many of them would just wear the normal stripes. Also, there are now WO and CWO stripes on epaulets with the blue “dot” in the middle. These are now in place of the SCPO and MCPO ranks that didn’t come out until a little before Vietnam. Finally, the AS, S2C, and S1C ranks are represented by the “cuff” marks that would be found on the lower portion of the “jumper” or “cracker-jack” uniform since they didn’t wear any “rank” per say on their uniforms at all. Certain jobs did wear them (like cooks and stewards), but on a sub you either wore the working blues or the khakis. CPO’s wore blues with khaki hats, while the others wore them with the white “sailor” hat or – in some cases – with baseball caps. I also remember seeing a color picture of a CPO wearing a khaki officer’s shirt with dungaree pants. That may have been a “one-off” thing, but you never know. Because of this, I figured I’d use the “dress” ranks that were generally worn – with the CPO stripes as red because of the aforementioned material shortages.
3. Changed the promotion system as well. You now only promote S1C to PO3, PO1 to CPO, and WO to CWO. Here’s my reasoning:
